Construction toy



Feb. 14, 1950 D. E. COLE CONSTRUCTION TOY Filed Oct. 25, 1945 Snap ShortJohn Doe Patented Feb. 14, 1950 UNITED OFFICE CONSTRUCTION TOYDaltonEZ'CSle;Cliioago,llii' Applicatibn Q'ctober"-25, 1945, swarm;6243534 This invention-relates to'a toy composeda'of. two or more unitscapable of being. assembled: to: simulate many well known obj ectsj Theultimate intricacy of 1 what I may be -constructedi withwthe s units ofthe toy is" dependent entirely upon the ingenuity"of-the-individualusing this toy. Much is left to the imagination of a child playing withthe toy. 5

One "I of .the c-obj ects :-of the present inventiontis 4-Claimsa (Cl.MF-31y The second basic unit of theinvention comprisesa fiatpieceofmaterial H suchas -cardboard, wood, metal, plastic, paper orother suitto provide two basic kinds of units -oneinsthermyablecmaterial: formed of suitable sizes andshapes nature ofabodmbreferably, cylindrical, having circumferentially"disposedlongitudinally extending slitstzextending inward: from its face-randthev other. unit being in the nature "of a sheet or material such as.cardboard, metal; ,wood;.p1astic 151:.

or other suitable material. capableof being inserted into any slitof oneormoreof the bodies, whereb'y to construct an articlezsimulating anyqofcmany wellknownuobjectsr Other objects and advantagesrwill appearrin go:

the course of this specification, and with all of said objects andadvantages in view, this invention consists in the several novelfeatures hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawing accompanying thisspecification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention showingseveral units assembled so as to simulate a house;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in verticalsection illustrating the use of several of the body units for connectingand supporting photographs, pictures, or the like;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing one of the body units serving as aholder for a place card or other card, and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the parts seen in Fig. 3.

Referring to said drawing and first to Fig. 1,

the reference characters 5 designate several of one of the kinds of thefirst basic units, herein shown as comprising a body preferably ofcylindrical form composed of wood, metal, plastic, paper or othersuitable material and having several longitudinally extending slits 6,I, that extend inward radially from the cylindrical face of the body anddivide the other portion thereof into a plurality of segments 8. Theslits extend from end to end of the body and extend inward for somedistance leaving a solid core 9 at the middle of the body which formsthe connecting medium between the segments 8. The slits 6 are spacedequidistantly about the body and if desired the slits I may be spacedintermediate certain of the slits 6. ll,

suchwas playing: cards or other cards, or the unit li mayrbe oftriangular, round or ovalshape-on ness to vfit fairly-tightly intheslitsin the body so as. to enable the assembled arti'cle tohold'together. The several units are assembled to simulate articles :by,inserting the edges of the units 1 I into the slits of the units 5.

In Fig;v lseveralofthe bodies 5 are arranged" vertically and connectfour sheets or cards II in the form of a rectangle with two of thesheets or cards extending lengthwise of the toy house and two extendingvertically. The roof may be composed of two cards designated by Ha whichconverge toward each other at the top of the structure and are connectedtogether by one of the bodies 5, and the lower edges of said cards I la,are connected to the upper edges of the side wall cards I l by bodies,one of which is seen at 5.

Manifestly a great variety of objects may be simulated with the toy orit may be used for ornamental or useful purposes; as for instance,connecting mediums between photographs, pictures or the like I2 as seenin Fig. 2. A cord [3 or the like, with knots on its ends may be insertedinto the ends of one of the slits in the upper body 5 for suspending thearticle from a picture hook or nail or the like.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the application of the body 5 to a place orother display card. The card or sheeet lib, on which the name of theindividual is displayed is inserted into one of the slits in the body 5,and the other sheet He is inserted into a slit at right angles to theone in which the card llb is held, the card Ilc serving as a stabilizerfor the device.

The outer corners of the slits and the ends thereof are rounded off tofacilitate the insertion of a sheet of material into a slit, eitheralong the length thereof or at the ends of opposite slits.

In constructing certain articles it may be found necessary to insert acard or other sheet of material across one or both ends of the body. Therecesses provide open spaces between the ends of the slits and make itpossible for a card or other sheet of material to be inserted intooppositely disposed slits at the ends of the bodies.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousimmaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing fromthe spirit of my invention; hence, I do not wish to limit myself to theexact form, construction, arrangement or combination of parts hereinshown and described or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A toy capable of being assembled to simulate a variety of objects andcomprising two basic kinds of units, one unit being in the form of acylindrical body having conical recesses in its ends and longitudinallyextending slits which extend radially inwardly from the cylindrical faceof the body and being disposed circumferentially about the cylindricalface of the body with the bottom edges of the slits terminating at theWalls of the conical recesses, and the other unit comprising a sheet ofmaterial whose edge portions are capable of being inserted into any ofthe slits in the cylindrical face of the body, and crosswise of the bodyin the slits at the end of the body.

2. A toy capable of being assembled to simulate a variety of objectscomprising a cylindrical body having conical recesses in its ends and aplurality of longitudinally extending slits which extend inward radiallyfrom its cylindrical face and are disposed circumferentially about thesame with the bottom edges of the slits terminating at the Walls of theconical recesses, and several pieces of sheet material removably securedcrosswise of the body in any of the slits and held therein by friction.

3. A toy capable of being assembled to simuportion of the body.

4. A toy capable of being assembled to simulate a variety of objects andcomprising cylindrical bodies and pieces of sheet material, thecylindrical bodies having longitudinally extending slits which extendradially inward from the faces of the bodies, the bodies having conicalrecesses extending inward from their ends and intersecting the slits,and said pieces of sheet material being adapted to be held along thelength of the bodies in said slits and to be held crosswise of thebodies in those portions of the slits which are intersected by the wallsof the conical recesses.

. DALTON E. COLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the NumberName Date 2,031,848 Ogden Feb. 25, 1936 r 2,208,049 Pajeau' July 16,1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 52,063 Denmark Aug. 24, 1936214,821 Great Britain May 1, 1924

